Born on 26th December, 1987, the 25 year old wicket keeper is seen as a long standing option after the retirement of Adam Gilchrist. An all-rounder of sorts, Wade represented Tasmania in both cricket and football during his evolving years. When he was 16, Wade was diagnosed with testicular cancer and underwent two rounds of chemotherapy before being cleared of the disease. Returning to the game, Wade went on to represent Australia in the 2006 U-19 World Cup that was held in Sri Lanka.

Wade got his breakthrough with Tasmania in the 2006-07 season during the Ford Ranger ODI series but played only one match for his state side. He realized that he was behind the pecking order with Tim Paine being the preferred first choice. Rather than playing as a specialist batsman, Wade crossed over to Victoria during the 2007-08 season and in two seasons was to become the preferred choice ahead of the incumbent Adam Crosthwaite.

A couple of productive seasons with both the bat and the gloves for Victoria in both the Sheffield Shield as well as the ODI format meant that Wade established himself behind Brad Haddin as the wicket keeper options for Australia.

His consistency won him a spot in the Australian T20 team during the tour of South Africa in late 2011. The ODI call-up was to come soon as he made his debut against India during the Commonwealth Bank Trophy series in February, 2012. He responded with a superb 67 on debut at the MCG. Wade was selected as Haddin's back-up during the Test tour of West Indies and made his debut after Haddin pulled out of the series owning to personal issues.

He showed glimpses of his batting potential and ended the tour with his 1st Test ton, a free flowing 106 in the final Test at Roseau. Wade has continued to impress with his batting abilities as he showcased with a powerful 102 against Sri Lanka at the SCG, but his fumbles with the gloves has not impressed the critics. With Haddin returning to the game after a brief break, the pressure has grown on Wade to prove that he belongs to this level.

He has played a fair bit of ODI cricket and also got an opportunity to come back into the Australian side to play against England in early 2014. Haddin's return to full form meant, Wade could not cement his place in the side to play the 2014 T20 WC in Bangladesh.

Wade is a regular in the Big Bash League though and has been with Melbourne Stars since 2011. However, he found no bidders in the 2014 IPL auctions after Delhi Daredevils decided not to retain any of the players for the 7th edition of the IPL. Ever since the retirement of Brad Haddin, he has become Australia's first-choice wicket-keeper across formats.